The living years
by Sarlina
Summary: If I had known back then, that one conversation I had with the four handsome troublemakers, would get me into that much trouble I think I would have urged D. to run away with me… But then on the other hand, I would have never gotten closer to Sirius Black!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone :)

I think I should warn all of you guys before you start reading. English is not my first language and I do **NOT** have a beat for this story (yet). I tried to cover this up a little by making my OC a foreigner so every mistake here could be blamed on the fact that her English isn't perfect either. But I try to find someone to help me here as soon as possible. Should anyone be interested please let me know :)

As for the idea? I actually thought that I was done with Harry Potter for quite some time now but I found some old scripts for a story I had planned. 17 pages – handwritten and I remembered how much I loved this idea so here I am. _The living years_ it not this idea it is more like a little project to help me get back into the `Harry Potter-feeling', but I hope you still enjoy it and that you manage to over lock my less than perfect grammar.

And as always, nothing here is my own, I'm just using it for some entertainment and make no money with this!

* * *

„Gott verflucht noch mal!" I had never been the one for cursing. But waking up late on your first day back at school was never a good sign. Especially if your first lesson was transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. This was my sixth year at Hogwarts, and this was the sixth time that I was going to be late on my first day. Well, the twelfth actually, if you count the times after winter break. So I guess I should know better by now.

"I told you to get up like half an hour ago!"

I send a death glare at my best friend while I tried to get my hair into something, that looks like an actual hairstyle but my hair and I always had this kind of love-hate relationship, so I decide for a high ponytail, grabbed my blouse out of my trunk, put it on and took a last look at the mirror. My light brown hair looked at least a little tamed and without time to put on any make-up I looked like the perfect little wallflower. At least a few high heels to make me look a little taller than my 5"3 would have been nice but that would have been against the school rules.

"Oh come on Kat, we already missed dinner, can we please hurry now?"

"No one asked you to wait D.!" I snapped at her. "I sure don't want to be responsible for ruining your perfect little image in front of the teachers!"

Okay, so I'm not a morning person and I shouldn't be yelling at the only real friend I've got here when all she was doing was being nice to me but it was always hard to adapt to being back here. I always spend the summer at back home in Germany with my friends and family and things there were a really different from here. But there was no magical school in Germany, something about little magical genetic heritage there, so when I got old enough it was either ignoring my magical talents or choosing a school in another county. It had obviously come to the second of those options. So I had ended up in an unfamiliar country without even being able to fully speak the language.

Dinah had been my rock back then. The sorting had must have had thought that it was kinda brave to come here under my circumstances, so I had been sorted into Gryffindor just like Dinah and the quiet girl had had enough pity with me to take me under her wing. She had helped me with the language part and truth to be told with every other part too. I wasn't exactly a model student like her and I tented to let myself get distracted easily.

But the bright side was that my best friend knew exactly that my moody moments were nothing she should take seriously. She just looked impatiently and shook her head. "Get moving Kate!"

Another thing to get used to again, my real name was Käthe but Dinah had never been able to pronounce that right so around here I was Kat for everyone. The only person around here that called me Käthe was Michael Berdel another student from Germany but honestly? He was a little creepy so I stayed away from him as good as I could.

"Yes fine, let's go!" Dinah was out of the room before I had the chance to react leaving me no choice but to hurry after her.

The halls were already empty when we reached the classroom. Dinah let out a loud sign, she hated nothing more than being late or drawing attention to her in any other way. Sometimes it was hard to understand, but for now she had to live with it. She still let me open the door.

"Miss Bauer!" Professor McGonagall looked like she was ready to kill someone. Whoever had managed to get her this mad so short after the start of the first lesson was a question to me, but this was so not working in my favor. "You are ten minutes late! I think that would make ten point from Gryffindor, am I right?" The undertone in her voice left no room for any kind of discussion. So I answered in the only way I could. "Yes professor!"

For a moment I wanted to point out that I wasn't the only one who was late but thought better of it. D. would have killed me if I did.

"You may take a seat!" Professor McGonagall Looked like she wanted to say a lot more but decided against it. I took this as my opportunity and sat down on an empty spot in the middle of the classroom, Dinah following right behind me.

I could still feel McGonagall's eyes on my back. Great, now she was mad at me, instant of just being annoyed. "I should have stayed in bed!"

"So we would have lost even more points?" I decided to ignore Dinah's words, just like the disapproving look that Lily Evans sent me. I rolled eyes. Lily was a nice girl, she was practically friends with everyone - well except maybe James Potter and his mighty gang of misfits - but she had this annoying habit of following every rule that this school had. She was the only other Muggel-born in our class, next to me, and for her that meant that she had to prove herself in every possible way. She had to have the best notes and I'm absolutely positive, that she had never missed a single minute of class.

I opened my bag and started to put my stuff out on the desk. A few inches permanent, my quill and the Muggel-notebook that my mother had given me during summer break. The first few sides were already filled with a few sketches and entries. It wasn't exactly a diary. More something like a... Well something to keep me busy. I opened the first side and look at the beautiful handwriting of my sister. She had taken the opportunity to write me a little note. 'To help me get through the coming year!' she had said. She had even used the few words English she had actually learned: " Smile. Don't kill anyone!"I actually had to smile while i read the words. My sister defiantly knew me.

I heard someone laugh behind me and instantly knew that I had made a huge mistake in closing this seat. I knew that voice all to well. Because you could hear it every evening in the common room. I was sitting right in front of Potter and his friends. Which meant that Professor McGonagall would be looking a lot more in our direction. Which also meant that I had at least to look like i was paying attention. Great!

I looked again at the words my sister had written for me and signed before I closed the notebook again.

But the other problem with sitting in front of the self-named marauders was my curiosity. I couldn't help but listen into their conversation.

"..would we need to do that?" that was obviously Black. He had this remarkable rough voice that had haunted my dreams more than once. Each of them was handsome in his own way but for me, Black was by far the most attractive. Potter was defiantly good looking but he something more boyish about him while Sirius had this whole rebel-attitude. Remus Lupin was the grown up among them and if you liked the smart and reliable guy with just the right sense of humor I was sure it was him. Between all four of them he was surely the best choice if you were looking for a serious relationship. Peter Pettigrew was more like the boy next door. He look nearly Plain next to Potter and Black. And he didn't have this thoughtful aura around him. But he didn't looked bad either. He was a little smaller than his friends and he didn't manage to get the attention of the whole room just by walking in it. Sometimes I thought that he hated it. That he hated it to fade into the back just like I did. But he had defiantly made the best out of it.

Peter had the habit of picking up the pieces that his friends left behind. At least when it came to the ladies. Every girl in this school dreamed about the Marauders, or at least one of them. And after some time spend with Black or Potter – who's relationship never lasted longer than a few weeks – and getting dumped in a really unpleasant way it was easy for Peter to play the good guy. Comforting them and doing just the right things to make them fall for him. He was really good at this, that I had to leave him.

"Because it would be the nice thing to do, Pads!" James voice brought me back to reality and reminded me, that I was still ears dropping into their conversation.

"Since when are we being nice?" This time it was Remus who answered Sirius. "Since Melissa broke up with me because of the way you acted around her sister!" I could particularly picture Remus reproachful look when I remembered that story.

"Just consider it your good deed for the day Padfood!" I could hear Black snort while I asked myself for the second time today what the hell the deal with this ridicules Nicknames was that they had given themselves.

"Psst! Hey!"

I meant really there was no recognizable sense behind them and Peters nickname even seemed a little insulting to me. They had started to use them last year and no one ever figured out where this came from.

"Hey!"

But if I were Peter I would surely feel offended by it. He, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind. Maybe he was more confident than I was? Well I guess that was likely. I wasn't exactly the most self-confidant person. I could stand up for myself if I had to but I preferred to stay out of situation that could end up being embarrassing for me.

"Psst!"

Okay, whoever's attention they wanted to get, this person seriously needed to pay attention before they started to draw Professor McGonagall's attention to themselves. Even I was starting to look for that person. For a moment I thought that Potter was trying to get Lily Evans attention again – like he did at least once a week, if not more often, since she turned him down in our third year. I think she hurt his pride back then and this turned into some really weird kind of obsession he had for her. He still dated other girls but no one doubted that he would dump each of them for Lily. One of the reasons I had for settling my teenage-crush on Black instant of him. Not that he would have been any better but… I shook my head to leave this thought behind me and made sure that Lily was still sitting in front of the class and would never hear Potter. So who's attention could he want than?

Something hard hit the back of my head, interrupting my observation. I turned around to find the one responsible for this but the only thing I could find was a grinning James Potter. "Finally!" he exclaimed. Remus hit him in the side at once, sending him a look that most clearly said: 'Keep quiet!' James seemed to see his point and lowered his voice. "I was starting to think you were deaf!"

He was starting to think… "Did you just 'Psst' me?" I realized how dumb that sounded after I finished the words but I was to surprised by this to care at this moment.

Potter seemed to think that this was a perfectly normal situation and shrugged. "Sure. Bauer, right? You are the one with the strange accent!"

I'm not entirely sure but I think I must have starred at him for at least a minute asking myself if he really just asked me that. We have been in the same class for the last five years. I think I know every name of every person in our house and he just asked me… This was ridicules! I shook my head and nodded finally. "Yea! How can I help you?"

He looked at me bewildered. "You just did!" I must have looked as confused as I felt because he decided to explain this a little future. "When you came in, I really thought McG. Would give us detention for the rest of the year till you interrupted her!"

Oh, they had been the ones who were responsible for her current mood. Why was I not surprised? "Well… Your welcome, I guess!"

Potter smiled again. But said nothing more, so I turned around again.

"See, that wasn't so hard now, wasn't it?"

"I still don't see why it was necessary. It's not like she did it on purpose." They did knew that I could hear them right?

"I think she's nice!"

"You don't even know her Peter, so how can you know that?" Wow. Nice Black, really! We were particularly living together for a few years, so yea… how should he know that? I opened my notebook again and started to write furiously inside, trying to distract myself from this situation but I couldn't help but listen to the rest of this conversation.

"She actually is pretty nice Sirius!" again it was Remus who countered. "She's friends with Dinah Meadows, and her accent is German by the way, James!"

"Dinah is Dorcas little sister right?" I felt the urge to hit my head on the table. Seriously? That is all they knew about D.? That her sister was one of the girls James had managed to get intimate with. And why would being friends with her automatically qualify me as nice? I could hear Dinah sign beside me and realized that she was listening to. Poor girl. She always stood in her sisters shadow. Dorcas was the perfect daughter. She had the best grades, played in the Quidditsch-Team and looked like a freaking model while doing it. Dinah on the other hand had to study hard to keep up with all the expectations that her parents were setting in her and she was way to shy to dress up like her sister. I took her left hand in mine and send her a small smile. At least we were together in this!

But if I had known back then, that this conversation would have only been the first one, I had with the four handsome troublemakers, or what trouble all of this would get me in I think I would have urged D. to run away with me…

* * *

If you made it then there is a small chance that you actually liked it, so if this is the case, please let me know^^. I'm also always open for some critic!

Lg Sunny


	2. Chapter 2

Hey

I actually managed to finish chapter two. I'm not really sure about it, I guess it is a little much for one chapter but I decided that even a side project needed an actual storyline so I came up with something and wanted to make a start here and to give you all a first impression. Maybe it really was a little to much and to fast but maybe I'm just a little nervous, what you might think.

Please let me know if you liked it, or if you think I should rewrite it a little.

* * *

It was still the first day of my sixth year, and my day just kept going weirder and weirder. I had most of my classed today without Dinah so I had to sit with Lily, Alice and Mary. The three of them were particularly inseparable and I always felt a little left out when I was with them. They kept talking about their summer vacation and some mysterious older boyfriend that Alice had. He obviously was a student here at Hogwarts, but no one of them wanted to tell me the name.

But as if that wouldn't be enough to remind me of the fact that I wasn't part of their little group, James had to screw it up entirely for me. He came to us in third period to talk to Lily and managed to somehow pull me into their little drama, earing me disapproving looks from the read headed beauty for the rest of the day. It was at least one memory that I wouldn't forget to fast.

_I was writing in my Notebook again. Some lyrics I heard over the summer to keep my mind of the conversation that Alice and Mary were having for the third time since I took my seat next to them. I was starting to think that Mary had no idea who the mysterious boyfriend was, either. I had reached the second verse of the song when I saw Potter and his friends come over to the front of the class. Professor McNeil – our new Defense against the dark arts Professor – wasn't here yet so there was no one here to stop this from happening._

_Everyone around knew what was to come. Potter would make some stupid remark and Lily would explode. It was the same thing every time but no matter how often it happened James Potter wouldn't give up. Lily was some kind of price that he wasn't ready to let go. Sometimes I wondered why, they never really talked to each other all they did was yelling – well on Lily's side – so he had no idea what she really was like. What planes for the future she had. Hell, he didn't even know how she liked her coffee. But none of these things seemed to matter. In his eyes, Lily Evans was the perfect girl and there was nothing one could do to chance that._

"_Hey!" Potter leaned over the desk using both of his hands to support his weight. Lily didn't seemed pleased at all. And neither did his friends. I realized it for the first time but I actually thought that they had already realized that his dream would never come true. "What do you want Potter? After what happened at the end of the last year you can't possible think that I would want to talk to you!" Lily's voice held an icy undertone and even the dark haired guy seemed taken aback. I had heard about the little run in that Potter and Snape had after their exams at the end of their fifth years. But Lily wasn't done yet. "You don't really think that I would want to be with someone who treads my friends with so little respect!" _

_Anyone around could see that James was thinking hard for a reply but his expression hardened. "You right!" he answered finally. "I'm actually here to talk to Kat!"_

_That was something no one had expected and even Lily look a little stunned. "What?" That was an excellent question! And since when were we on a first name basis anyway?_

_Potter shook his shoulders and pushed himself back into a standing position to turn to me. But after that, he looked just as clueless as I did. I signed, of course he hadn't actually come to talk to me, this was just the first excuse that had come to his mind. The thing was just, that now he had to actually figure something out that he wanted to talk to me about before he looked like a total idiot in front of Lily. It could have all taken a good end at this moment, I think, I could have asked him, what the hell he was doing but looking at him standing there like a lost puppy… I actually felt pity for him. "I give you my potions scripts tonight, but you guys should really start making some notes yourself!" I said before I had the chance to think it over._

_Professor Slughorn always started a new year with repeating the most important potions from the last year. To make sure that the students 'hadn't forgotten their basics' like he liked to say._

"_That's what I'm trying to tell them since first grad!" replied Remus dryly._

_Potter – or, was it James now? – look utterly relived at my words and ignored Remus. "Thanks Kat, you're a real live-saver!" He send me a honest smile and I knew that he wasn't talking about some notes that were probably lying at the bottom of his trunk. I tried my best to copy his smile. "You're welcome!" Again._

After this little incident I was officially the enemy. Mary had asked me when I became friends with the Marauders. A pretty good question if you asked me. So instant of giving a real answer I had just smiled at her and told her that it 'just kinda happened' somehow. I also told her that we were only on a talking basis and nowhere near the part where we could officially named friends. But it was enough. Lily looked like she was really disappointed in me for the rest of the day.

I'm just not sure why? Had it been that obvious that I was lying when I helped James? Did she think it would become one of them now? Or was it something else entirely? I knew that, if I were Lily I would enjoy the attention that James would be giving me. Having one of the most popular guys in school chase me like that? For every other girl this would be heaven. Maybe Lily liked it secretly as well? I singed and closed the book I had been reading. "So you really are leaving me alone now?"

Dinah didn't even bother to turn around when she answered and I just knew that she was rolling her eyes. "I have been tutoring Christian in every Thursday since he started two years ago Kat, why are you acting like this is a surprise?"

"Because it's our first day back at school!" I replied. "And I don't get why he already needs a tutor! You should start next week and stay with me today!"

"To do what? You have been reading you stupid novel for the last two hours. You could at least do your homework!" Dinah answered while she finished packing her stuff and turned around to me. "You will survive a few hours without met!"

"I know I will!" I signed. "But Lily is still giving me the evil eye and I'm nearly finished with my book. I'm going to get bored alone here!"

My best friend only shook her head. "I'm leaving now! Like I always do on a Thursdays at 7 pm. And you could get your ass up and send a letter to your parents, like you always do on a Thursdays at 7 pm!" The look on her face said clearly 'Stop whining' so I bit my thong and smiled sweetly at her. "'lrigth!"

It is true; I normally used that time to write a few lines to my family. I guess I'm just to lays today. It always takes me a few days to get used to everyday life again. And it took me at least five more minutes till I decided that her idea might not be the worst.

My mother always got worried about me when it took me to long to reply to her. That's way I always relied on the same day. On a Thursdays at 7 pm..

I took my bag from the sofa and made my way over to the exit when I heads someone call my name.

"Kat!" I turned around just in time to see James jog towards me. "Hey!" he smiled at me while he opened the portrait for me. "Where are you going?"

"To the Owlery?"

„Great!" he smiled even wider, while he followed after me, letting the portrait slide back in place. "I wanted to go up there anyway!"

Okay that was it! Something was defiantly wrong here. "What the hell is going on here?" I asked him while I continued on my way. All the answer that I got was a confused look. "I mean, one could be an accident or something. Two is a coincidence but three? Don't get me wrong but I just don't understand why you're talking to me, you never did before!"

James looked taken aback at my outburst. "Why wouldn't I want to talk to you? We are in the same house and have most of our classes together!"

"You weren't even sure if Bauer really was my last name this morning!" He actually had the decency to look embarrassed at my words. "You heard that?"

I snorted and actually stopped walking to face the dark haired boy. "Yes James, I heard that! So please just tell me the truth before this gets even more ridicules!" I'm dumb! I'm so unbelievable stupid. Any normal person would have taken the chance to actually talk to one of the marauders and maybe find a way to get included in their inner circle. Everyone wanted that in one way or another. To be popular. Including me! So why the hell was I yelling at James when I – for once – got the chance to improve my social status? Why?

James didn't seem to notice my inner struggles and starred down at the floor. "Remus!" he said finally.

"What?" So he was just talking to me because Remus wanted him to? What was I? A social case? But I hadn't things expected to be even worse.

"Well Remus kinda likes your friend, Dinah. But she seems a little distant, so I thought that you could…" at this point I decided that it was time to interrupt him. "_Im ernst jetzt_? You came here because Remus likes D.? That's it?" This was unbelievable. I wanted to yell at him, to tell him how hurtful his words actually were. I knew that I wasn't the kind of girl that they spend their time with but being told into my face that the only reason that he would talk to me was because of my friend, was… I was so angry that wasn't even able to make a single sound. So I did the next best thing: I turned around and left. I didn't wanted him to see me like this! Not like some sad little girl that wasn't invited to play with the big Kids. I was better than this, I decided.

I walked as fast as I could without starting to run and soon leaving the halls behind me, making my way over to the owlery.

If I hadn't been that upset I would have probably noticed the bad feeling that came over me as soon as I reached the fresh air. Under normal circumstances I would have surly realized that something was wrong and would have turned around. At least I liked to think that now. But I didn't. I kept on walking till I saw the first of them. It was a horrible view, he was wearing a dark coat and some sort of mask that made him look like he just came out of one of this Horror movies that my sister secretly watched. Is instinctly took a step back, only to collide with something hard behind me. I twirled around and saw another guy – at least I thought there were male – stand behind me, wearing the same mask.

"See!" the one behind me – the one I had seen first – said. "I told you she would come here. Every week, like clockwork!" The other one made a strange sound and stared to chuckle. Bright green eyes fixed me from behind the mask and I shuddered. What was going on here?

"Don't worry!" the first one spoke again. "It will look like an accident!" I didn't dare to turn back around but I don't think I would have been able to if I wanted. Of the second time in less than an hour my body was frozen. I tried to make sense out of this situation but it just wouldn't fall into place. I had no idea who they were or why they were here but deep down I knew that this wouldn't end good for me. I tried to find a way out of this situation but I was trapped. My eyes flickered to the door that wasn't to far away but with the guy between me and my escape I doubted that I would make it. The one I front of me seemed to realize what I was thinking. "It's okay!" his voice sounded a lot softer now, reassuring even it was totally surreal. "Just close your eyes! It won't hurt!"

I don't know why, but I did it! Maybe I just didn't want to face the fact that these were my last moments I wanted to believe that if I actually closed my eyes I would all just go away. And in some way, it did; Someone was yelling but didn't realize what it was I just kept my eyes closed still hoping that everything was going to be okay.

The next time someone was yelling it was right next to me. "Expelliarmus!" It took me a moment to realize that this voice didn't belong to one of the two that had passed me up.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. The green eyed boy was still standing in front of me, his wand pointed in my face but he wasn't making a move.

"Are you alright?" This time I turned my head to look at James who was standing right beside my attacker. His wand pointed to a spot behind my back – the other guy probably. I instinctly turned around to look at him. He was lying in the ground, holding his right arm. His wand was only a few foot away from him and he seemed to recover slowly. "Come on!" James grabbed my arm and I flinched. He didn't bother and pulled me backwards. "We have to go!" My brain was processing everything very slowly. I wanted to stay, to take this mask from their faces to see who had attacked me. I wanted to ask them what this was all about. But I didn't.

I let James pull me inside the castle just in time to avoid a curse send by the second guy. He was back on his feet again, even though he still seemed to be in pain. I could see him pointed his wand at his friend to break the spell that was keeping him in place, before James pushed the door closed.

"Kat!" he shook my shoulders to get my attention again. "We need to get away from here, the door won't stop them!"

I didn't answer but let him pull me further into the caste till we reached an abandoned classroom.

"We should be save here!" he said and started to search for something in his pockets.

I shook my head. We should be safe everywhere inside this castle! "Who were this guys? I don't understand why they would…" I couldn't say the words. _Why they wanted to kill me_. Even the thought made me sick. "I never did anything that could have insulted other students!"

James looked at me like I came from the moon. "You don't know?" he abandoned his search and leant against the table next to me, crossing his arms. "Where the hell have you been for the last few months?"

I wanted to ask if this was a rhetorical question but the current situation kept me from starting a new argument. I wanted answers. "Germany?" It was more a question than a statement, considering the fact that I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Oh!" He took in a deep breath. "Right, I guess you don't get this kind of news in the newspaper over there!"

"What kind of news?"

"There was an attack!" he paused like he wanted to overthink the words he was going to say. "A public place here in London. A group of people wanted to make an statement. They obviously don't think that…" he looked a little lost, like he wasn't finding the right word. "That people like you and Lily shouldn't be part of our community!"

I swallowed. I knew that some people didn't like us very much, mostly Slytherins, but there was a huge difference between 'not liking' and wanting to kill someone. "And you think its them?"

James nodded. "Their pictures were in every newspaper. They were wearing masks like that!"

I was still trying to progress all of this. "Then I think I should be grateful that you were there!" James nodded again but the thought got stuck in my mind. "Why were you there?"

"Well!" James looked down to the floor. "After you left, I realized that this whole Remus thing wasn't the only reason I wanted to talk to you!"

"It wasn't?"

He looked back up again and smiled. "No, I actually wanted to thank you for helping me earlier that day. Lily really caught me off guard this time. I knew she doesn't like all of the things we do, and I can deal with that, but I didn't think she would still consider Snape as a friend, after what he said!"

Now it was my time to nod. "It's okay, I told you; you're welcome!"

"Even after I couldn't remember you Name this morning?" he asked, using my argument from earlier against me. I had to smile a little. "Yes."

"Good, and after we established that, I want to apologize!" He shrugged. "You know, for acting like a total ass!"

This time I couldn't help but laugh a little. "I guess after what happened out there, I kinda have to forgive you, mhm?"

"Yea, I think that would be.."

James never got to finish his sentence because that was the exact moment the door to the dark classroom flew open. "There you are!"

* * *

As a reader, I totally hate cliffhangers ;) But this opportunity was just to good. I hope you liked it, and if not, please let me know what I could do better. After all, this project was started to help me improve my writing and my feeling for the HP-characters so my next story will become something great!

Lg Sunny


End file.
